# 775% increas on Pipe Tobaco proposed



## Alpedhuez55 (Dec 16, 2005)

I just got an email from a pipe website...looks like they are thinking of raising the taxes on Pipe Tobacco to match that of the Roll You Own Cigarette Tobacco:

_H.R. 4439, the Tobacco Tax Parity Act of 2010 was introduced on January 13, 2010 and would raise the tax on pipe tobacco 775% from $2.8311 to $24.78 per pound.

As a service to the pipe smoking community and the industry of pipe makers and pipe tobacco producers we have set up a free service that will automatically send emails to your Senators and Congressmen.

- We have already typed the letter for you. The system does everything. Just enter your address, we find the right contacts and send them your opposition to the tax increase.

In 15 seconds - Email Your Senators and Congressmen for FREE
Stop a 775% Tax Increase on Pipe Tobacco!

- You can add your own comments too!

In 15 seconds - Email Your Senators and Congressmen for FREE
Stop a 775% Tax Increase on Pipe Tobacco!

- Really make an impact by having a real letter printed on paper and hand-delivered. (This cost $3 per letter and is optional. You are given the choice at the end.)

A tax increase of 775% on anything is ludicrous. This will kill many small businesses and an historical tradition.

Stop the Pipe Tobacco Tax | Stop the Pipe Tobacco Tax |
_​
Even if you do not smoke pipes...please contact your Congressman. Another round of taxes on Cigars could be next.


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## DarHin (Dec 4, 2008)

Thanks for the heads up Mike. I've just signed the petition.


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## Davetopay (Jan 19, 2008)

I have joined in as well. Below you can find my little addition to the letter they are sending.


"Hear us now. Those who continue to try enact legislation which flies in the faces of those citizens they claim to represent, tend to find themselves without a seat from which to cast a vote. "


Let's see if they listen......


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## jsnake (Oct 6, 2009)

Signed up and hope many more people here do the same.


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## GlassGuy (Feb 14, 2010)

signed


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## smelvis (Sep 7, 2009)

Signed as email but whats that crap about giving our cc number and being charged $9 Fishy very fishy!

I would gladly donate but not be rooked!

Dave


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## thefenderbender (Jan 11, 2010)

I signed this a couple of weeks ago. Found it on my local cigar club site. I got replies from most of my representatives. We all GOT to stick together!!!!! :anim_soapbox:


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## beefcakeb0 (Feb 16, 2010)

This is absolutely absurd, I have read that this is because the loose cigarette tobacco has avoided the cigarette tax by relabelling. Is this the appropriate place to discuss? If so who does back this crap?


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## 1029henry (Jan 18, 2010)

Sent letters to both my US senators last week. Remember folks, elections in November. Vote the Liberal dictators OUT!


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## Nurse_Maduro (Oct 23, 2008)

smelvis said:


> Signed as email but whats that crap about giving our cc number and being charged $9 Fishy very fishy!
> 
> I would gladly donate but not be rooked!
> 
> Dave


I took a chance and did it. Hate to lose the $9, but I'd hate to have to shoulder a $22/lb tax increase more.

The charge is actually from RallyCongress.com, a business that (among other things, like domain hosting) automatically finds your representatives, then prints and delivers your letters to each one (for 3$ a pop). Sending email is free but, with literally thousands of emails being sent through the system each day, I wanted to make sure mine was seen.

I took the original letter and corrected a few garmmatical issues and added my own plea (feel free to borrow any of it for your own but, whether you write your own or send the form letter, email or paper, I STRONGLY URGE EVERYONE SEND SOMETHING!):

_H.R. 4439, the Tobacco Tax Parity Act of 2010 was introduced on January 13, 2010 and would raise the tax on pipe tobacco 775% from $2.8311 to $24.78 per pound._

_Introduced by Representatives Steve Cohen (Dem., TN) and Lloyd Doggett (Dem., TX), it has been referred to the House Ways and Means Committee of which Mr. Doggett is a member._

_I am writing to express concern about this bill._

_I want you to vote NO to H.R. 4439._

_This bill punishes pipe smokers and retail tobacconists. It will destroy an industry of pipe craftsmen, small farmers, tobacco blenders and retailers. It will kill many small businesses. In our current socioeconomic climate, with the unemployment rate now over 10%, can we really afford to create more job loss when it is entirely within our capacity to avoid doing so? _

_The roll-your-own tobacco industry, in an effort to avoid paying the higher taxes that cigarette manufacturers now pay, has falsely re-labeled cigarette tobacco as pipe tobacco. As such, I believe H.R. 4439 to be nothing more than an attempt to rope in taxes from roll-your-own cigarette tobacco. _

_This is not the way to fix that problem. Pipe smoking is an historical, time-honored tradition in America that goes back to colonial days (many honorable people smoked a pipe, including State Senator Millicent Fenwick, President Gerald R. Ford, General Douglas McArthur and Albert Einstein) and for those of us who enjoy real pipe tobacco, this is unfair. A tax increase of 775% on anything is ludicrous. _

_This country was founded on the backs of the tobacco farmers. Now, all tobacco is being lumped together as if is all the same. First, cigar and pipe smokers have had to deal with the social and environmental stigma associated with out hobby, because people now view these things to be as harmful as cigarettes (with their 599 additives), when this is simply not true. Now we have to shoulder a 775% tax increase? Where is our democracy? Where is the freedom to pursue the happiness that our Constitution guarantees? My cigar and pipe do not harm anyone. I do not smoke them in proximity of others. When was the last time anyone witnessed a pipe being smoked at a restaurant? _

_With the passing of the Tobacco Tax Parity Act of 2010, not only will we not be able to smoke in public (as has already occurred in most of our United States), but we will no longer be able to afford to do so in our own homes!_

_Please vote NO to H.R. 4439, and show your constituents that this is, indeed, still a democracy._


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## strider72 (Jan 25, 2009)

Too bad we can have a 1000% tax increase on being a liberal...


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## gibson_es (Jan 23, 2010)

i signed it. i stole davetopay's words. sorry. but i liked them. i just did the email. (hey, i have no job, cut me some slack. lol).... why do they need my phone number?


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## Vegasgz (Sep 22, 2008)

signed and signed!


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## Hermit (Aug 5, 2008)

My representative (Charlie Melancon) replied with the typical
weasel words..."I'll take your view into consideration."

My senator (David Vitter) said he has and *will vote against it*. :tu


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## smelvis (Sep 7, 2009)

My Response from my Senator!

Dear Mr. : 
Thank you for contacting me regarding H.R. 4439, the Tobacco Tax Parity Act of 2010, which is currently pending in the United States House of Representatives. I appreciate knowing your views on this matter.

In the Senate, this legislation would fall under the jurisdiction of the Finance Committee. While I am not a member of that Committee, I want to assure you that I will be following the progress of this bill and will keep your views in mind if this or related legislation comes before the full Senate for consideration.

Again, thank you for contacting me. I hope you will continue to keep in touch.

I hope all is well in Bellevue.

Sincerely, Patty Murray
United States Senator


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## gibson_es (Jan 23, 2010)

hmm. i have two main email accounts. one i use daily, and is linked to my cell phone. and one that i use for things i dont think i will want a reply back to (mainly if i think i will be getting spam or constant newsletters from that site). i gave the latter thinking i would get newsletters and what not from that pipe site.... guess i should have used the other email. now, to find the response i get, i will have to spend like 3 hours going threw the piles of spam i have in both my inbox and spam box to find it..... how stupid of me....


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## shuckins (Jun 24, 2009)

just send it again from your other email address.

i got 2 responses,they both say the same thing...nothing!:

Dear Mr. Stacy,

Thank you for contacting my office about opposing H.R. 4439, the Tobacco Tax Parity Act of 2010. Your input is important to me and I appreciate the time you took to share your thoughts. 

I understand your concern that such a proposal would result in a dramatic cost increase for products that many Americans enjoy every day and could potentially negatively affect small businesses who sell tobacco products. The Tobacco Tax Parity Act is currently in the House Committee on Ways and Means. Should the bill be introduced into the Senate, the insights you have provided will certainly help my staff and me as we look into the issue.

Thank you again for your letter. I hope you will continue to share your thoughts with me.

Sincerely, 
Bob Corker
United States Senator


Dear Ronald,

Thank you for sharing your opposition to H.R. 4439, the Tobacco Tax Parity Act. Hearing from you helps me better represent Middle Tennessee.

H.R. 4439 would impose the same tax rate on pipe tobacco as is imposed on roll-your-own tobacco. The bill was introduced in January and has been referred to the House Ways and Means Committee, of which I am not a member. I will keep your concerns in mind should this bill come to the full House for a vote.

Again, thank you for contacting me. Please do not hesitate to call on me in the future if I may be of assistance to you or your family.

Stay in touch, 
BART GORDON
Member of Congress


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## Brinson (Oct 28, 2007)

Its just a staff form letter. The response isn't personal, but often times the number of people opposing/supporting a bill via letter is recorded and taken into account. Your individual actual words probably don't mean much, though.

In my first year of college I went to my state capitol and we spoke with our congresswoman and her staff and she talked about these kinds of things. The staff read them, and mark down support and opposition.


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## ghe-cl (Apr 9, 2005)

IPCPR has issued an update on H.R. 4439, the bill to increase the tax on pipe tobacco to that of roll-your-own tobacco. The bill, says IPCPR, "has little life or attention in Congress." No hearings or actions are scheduled, and IPCPR says it expects no immediate congressional action.


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## Dan-Hur (Feb 26, 2010)

I'm not a pipe smoker, but I still find these kinds of arbitrary tax increases on tobacco repugnant. It happens to be an easy thing to tax since they've sufficiently convinced enough people that smoke is going to hunt them down and murder them while they sleep. If they were really concerned, they'd make it illegal but, of course, why would they want to shut down a perfectly good revenue source.


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## Hermit (Aug 5, 2008)

Dan-Hur said:


> If they were really concerned, they'd make it illegal but, of course, why would they want to shut down a perfectly good revenue source.


Because they're *stupid*.
It's been a fatassed golden goose,
but they seem determined to kill it. :mad2:


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## Dan-Hur (Feb 26, 2010)

Hermit said:


> Because they're *stupid*.
> It's been a fatassed golden goose,
> but they seem determined to kill it. :mad2:


I don't know about that. They've been taxing tobacco use for some time now and it's still in business. Perhaps we're the stupid ones for continuing to pay the taxes, but then again, we shouldn't have to pay more than anyone else does for a consumer good just because it's the vogue thing to hate. Either way, it just proves that the increases have nothing to do with concern with the public well-being and everything to do with lining the coffers.


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## smelvis (Sep 7, 2009)

Dan-Hur said:


> I don't know about that. They've been taxing tobacco use for some time now and it's still in business. Perhaps we're the stupid ones for continuing to pay the taxes, but then again, we shouldn't have to pay more than anyone else does for a consumer good just because it's the vogue thing to hate. Either way, it just proves that the increases have nothing to do with concern with the public well-being and everything to do with lining the coffers.


Bingo wish there was really a way to do something!!!


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## phatmax (Mar 18, 2009)

Eventually price and tax increases do start killing the industry. This is about Australia:

As can be seen from Table 2.17, total spending on tobacco products over the 35 years until June 2006 has increased almost 17-fold. However it must be remembered that the total population has also increased over that period and that the price of tobacco products has increased significantly, well beyond increases in the consumer price index. Taking into account price increases in tobacco products, Australians in 2006 are spending 70% per capita _less_ than what they were spending on tobacco products (per capita) at the peak of consumption in the early 1970s.

From:

2.4 Expenditure on tobacco products - Tobacco In Australia


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## Nurse_Maduro (Oct 23, 2008)

At least you guys got a response. I got nada from all three senators. Now I'm wondering if the letters were even sent.


Nice work, btw!!!


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## Scardinoz (Mar 15, 2010)

I sent my responses. This will likely die quietly.

Now, let's see if we can find out who put ink on paper to make this bill.


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## Nurse_Maduro (Oct 23, 2008)

Scardinoz said:


> I sent my responses. This will likely die quietly.
> 
> Now, let's see if we can find out who put ink on paper to make this bill.


Quietly or loudly...as long as it just dies. Oh, and it was introduced by Lloyd Doggett (D-TX).


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## TN22 (Nov 16, 2009)

shuckins said:


> just send it again from your other email address.
> 
> i got 2 responses,they both say the same thing...nothing!:
> 
> ...


No surprise to anyone, but I received the EXACT SAME form letter from Senator Corker's office.


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## Scardinoz (Mar 15, 2010)

Nurse_Maduro said:


> Oh, and it was introduced by Lloyd Doggett (D-TX).


It had to be my state, didn't it? Why not Maine? Aside from that, Texans in the 25th district
need to clue this guy in on what taxes we want and what taxes we don't want.

Edit: Most representatives have some presence on twitter, by the way, and they usually manage their twitter accounts themselves.


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